Captivated: Island of the Sirens Annabeth POV
by TheNextStevenSpielburg
Summary: The Siren scene from Sea of Monsters: Annabeth's POV. Annabeth's thoughts on Percy as he holds her in the bubble at the bottom of Siren Bay, up until they arrive and the home of the Cyclops. Completely Percabeth centric as Annabeth finally puts the pieces together and realizes what's been right in front of her all along.


**A/N: I love love love Percabeth and after reading Fanfiction for the last couple of days, I decided it's time I write my own. First Fanfic but I think it's pretty good. I hope you enjoy and please review. It would mean the world to me. Although I enjoyed reading the book series from Percy's point of view, I think we missed out on the development of their relationship in Annabeth's eyes. I took the base for my first fanfic from the siren scene in sea of monsters because I feel thats when Annabeth first developed feelings for the Seaweed Brain we all know and love, and quite honestly Rick didnt do this scene justice. I really enjoy writing from Annabeth's point of view so if you like my writing and there are any other scenes from the series you would like me to write in her point of view, feel free to PM me or mention it in a review. Criticisms welcome, thanks for reading!**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor do I own the quoted dialogue found in this story; they belong to Rick Riordan. I just own the POV.**

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Annabeth's POV**

Captivated

Sea of Monsters Pages 197-201

Percy rescuing Annabeth from the Sirens, her point of view.

_Just a few more strokes._ That's all that mattered as I fought my way toward them. It was everything I'd ever dreamed of: my family, my architecture, Luke. _My _Luke, not the one who'd almost sent Percy into Tartarus last summer, not the Luke who'd summoned a Pit Spider from the Underworld to kill Percy after our first quest, and not the Luke who'd turned his back on me and left.

I couldn't feel anything anymore, I couldn't think rationally; I just knew that I needed to reach them. I knew that I wanted nothing more than to swim until I finally reached their outstretched arms, arms waiting to accept me. Arms waiting to finally take me home. At that moment in time nothing else mattered than them. It didn't matter that Percy was using all of his strength to keep me from them, and it didn't matter that I _hated_ him for it. All that mattered was reaching them.

Then they started to fade away into the distance. I struggled and fought with everything I had to stay with them, but it was no use. The more I fought, the farther away I seemed to drift until at last, the currents finally pulled me under. They were gone, everything was gone, and suddenly the world was clear again. I could now recognize my need for oxygen, but upon reaching the surface, all Hades broke lose yet again. Once again I was overwhelmed by my desire to reach them; then I felt something else. Percy was still trying to keep me away. _Why is he trying to keep me from them? From everything I've ever wanted? I thought Percy was my friend._ But he was relentless. Somehow, he'd managed to get an arm around my waist and again I found myself completely submerged and being pulled deeper into the bay.

Logic made its way back into my mind almost immediately as we left the surface behind. Just as I became certain that Percy had forgotten not everyone is capable of breathing underwater, hundreds of thousands of bubbles rose up towards us, enclosing us in an air bubble so large only our legs remained in the water. For a few seconds he just watched me as I coughed up water from the previous couple of minutes, some of the fear in his eyes turning to relief, but only some.

Realization of the event finally dawned on me, and I lost control. The worry returned fully to his face, but it was different this time. This time, it wasn't so much a look of fearing for our lives, but a look of sadness and maybe even heartbreak. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help the gut wrenching sobs and whimpers I was releasing into the small space of our bubble; it was all just too much. But Percy understood almost immediately what I needed. As soon as my head made contact with his shoulder, his arms were around me. His arms were warm, nothing like the freezing water we'd been pulled into. It was like a rush of warmth flowing through my veins, it was comforting. He held me tight, not the way he had when he'd been dragging me from the sirens, but as though he was trying to hold me together when I wasn't capable of doing so for myself.

Even after I was able to control my sobs, he still just held me silently. For a guy whose head I'm convinced is full of kelp at times, Percy really has a way of knowing exactly what to do when it really counts. That's probably one of the things I like best about him. Come to think of it, there are a lot of things I like about Percy. As I mentioned before, he's warm; I'm not just talking about his body temperature either. His entire aura is just warm, warm like the blankets I used to curl up under as a kid to hide from the monsters I had yet to learn actually exist. Warm like the feeling of crossing the barrier into camp after a long winter. Warm like the feeling of sliding one of my favorite hoodies on over yet another tattered camp shirt. Warm like the flush that rises to his face when he's embarrassed. Warm like the sea. He was kind too, probably one of the kindest people I've ever met. Not to say that he doesn't defend himself when necessary, but he's never out to get anyone. He's also caring, caring in a way that during times such as the current situation, he leaves me wondering how I managed not to see it for so long. Percy Jackson is fiercely loyal; loyal to the point of self-sacrifice. No matter whom you are or what you've done, if you're someone he cares about, he'll stand by your side until the end of the world.

Last but not least, there are his eyes. His eyes hold it all, all of the warmth, kindness, love, and loyalty. Their color too, is amazing. They're the exact color of the sea, with equal parts blue and green. The depth of his eyes is another thing that reminds me of the sea, like someone could spend forever looking into them and still not see all they hold. He has friendly eyes, not like my stormy gray ones. Sometimes I find myself staring into his eyes just a little too deeply than acceptable for friends, but he doesn't notice, and if he does he doesn't seem to mind. I just can't bear to look away from them. Anyone who thinks Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis to be dangerous sea creatures, obviously has never looked into Percy's eyes. They too are entrancing, and just as dangerous if you choose to think of them that way; though dangerous in a different form, like if I stare into them I'll never be able to escape. They're captivating, yet another commonality they share with the sea, the way they express even the things he can't seem to put into words himself. At other times they just prove true the things he's already said, like the way they lighten when he talks about his mom and other things he loves; or the way they darken when he's determined or challenged. I guess I can just add them to the long list of things about Percy Jackson that puzzle me.

_Percy Jackson_ is a puzzle to me. How he can't stay mad. How in the midst of battle he somehow always thinks of a plan just in time. How he forges such strong friendships with people he's known for such short amounts of time. How he went along with my stupid idea to listen to the sirens because he knew it was something I truly wanted. Or even how he risked himself and jumped into the sea to save me from the sirens. And now, how after all of the trauma he has been through, he just sits here holding me together.

I'm so focused on my own thoughts that I almost don't hear him the first time he speaks. "I'll get us back to the ship," he says quietly. "It's okay. Just hang on."

His arms still around me, I just nod. Then thinking again of all he has done for me in just the past few minutes, I whisper one last thing into his ear before we leave our underwater safe zone.

"Percy… Thanks for never leaving me." My voice cracks halfway through the sentence and he doesn't reply, which isn't surprising once I realize the wax still protecting his ears from the siren songs. With this I closed my eyes for a moment, not really wanting to face the surface world. I assume we must have moved to the boat in that time period, because the next thing I remember is Percy urging me up the rope ladder now dangling from the side the _Queen Anne's Revenge._

Percy didn't hesitate to find me a blanket as soon as he came on board the ship, which was awfully thoughtful of him considering that he, being the son of the sea god and all, had not gotten wet and had not needed to go searching through the cabin to find one. Once all signs of the island of the sirens had gone, I mouthed _safe,_ and Percy finally removed the wax from his ears.

"You okay?" he questioned me, still with a fearful look on his face. As if he already knew the answer to that question and was just hoping to be wrong.

"I didn't realize," I mumbled, barely loud enough for his ears.

"What?"

"How powerful the temptation would be." I said, trying to keep the shame I felt out of my voice.

A string of emotions passed over his face before he finally admitted, "I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," and after a moment's hesitation he added, "And Luke and your parents." I could already feel the blush rising to my cheeks.

"You saw that?"

"What Luke told you back on the _Princess Andromeda_, about starting the world from scratch… that really got to you, huh?" He questioned, trying not to meet my eyes, and I wrapped the blanket closer around me.

"My fatal flaw. That's what the sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."

A look of confusion swept across his face, "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?" That time, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"No, Seaweed Brain. That's _hummus_. Hubris is worse."

"What could be worse than hummus?" He pointed out, obviously an attempt to lighten the mood surrounding the conversation.

"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else… even the gods."

"You feel that way?" he questions, finally making eye contact with me again, which immediately causes me to direct my gaze at the ground.

"Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really _is_ messed up? What if we _could _do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework." I add in at the end in yet another attempt to lighten the mood.

"I'm listening."

"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did-that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like _you_ could do a better job if you ran the world?" I ask him, trying to get my point across.

"Um… no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare." He admits, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw." I point out.

"What is?"

I consider his question for a moment, "I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it… well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing." It was quiet for a moment as we contemplated this.

"So was it worth it?" he asks, yet again trying to make eye contact. "Do you feel… wiser?" he adds, seeing my confusion with his previous question.

It takes me a moment to consider my answer as I stare into the distance. _Was _it worth it? _Was_ it worth risking mine, and indirectly Percy's, life for? Then again, knowing my fatal flaw could _save_ lives later on… "I'm not sure. But we _have_ to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke…"

Even a Seaweed Brain could see my point without me having to finish my answer. If _I_, who had been at camp longer than almost anyone, could be tempted by the same ideas that had proven to be Luke's downfall, the very thought of those ideas invading camp seemed disastrous on their own.

The conversation over, it was once again quiet and I was left to ponder the thoughts that had occurred back at the island of the sirens. All of the things I had pointed out about Percy _are _true, it had just taken me sorting them out before I could recognize that. And now I do recognize it, something very important. Since the events last summer, it's felt like I lost my home the day I lost Luke when really I had finally been forced to make room in my heart for a new one. _Percy._ As ignorant as he can be at times Percy is the closest thing I've had to a family in a long time, maybe ever. The more I think about this new revelation, the more I realize that Percy isn't a replacement for Luke, he's something entirely different.

Whereas Percy is selfless and loyal, Luke has always done things with the intention of putting himself first, even if ever so slightly. One thing is for certain, Percy would never have let Thalia make her final stand on the edge of the barrier. Percy would have fought at her side until the very end. And I had been correct in saying that Percy's one fatal flaw was not Hubris. I'm now almost certain that it will prove to be his undying loyalty. And really, who _can't_ begin to fall for a guy whose one flaw is that he would sacrifice everything just to save those he loves?

Did I just say I'm falling for _Percy_? My best friend? The only home I've known for far too many years? Then again, it's _Percy_… who saved me from hundreds of spiders in the tunnel of love, who swam halfway to the island of the sirens to save my life, who made me an air bubble underwater just so he could hold me in his arms out of harm's way while I broke down, who will never leave me, who has saved my life so many times I've lost track. I should have known from the first time I looked into those sea green eyes that this is where I would end up: in love with a complete Seaweed Brain. I should have known that from that moment onward I would be trapped, completely and one hundred percent captivated by the son of the Sea God.

Finally, I could make out the shape of an island in the distance. I looked back down for just a second as I made one last check to make sure I was recovered from the Sirens. Then, as I shifted my gaze from the ground up to Percy's eyes, I watched them lighten to just a slightly brighter shade of the sea; so as it turns out, falling for the son of the Sea God may not be such a bad thing after all.

"Percy." I called just loudly enough for him to hear, and as he fixed his sight on the island ahead of us, recognition swept across his face. We had reached the home of the Cyclops.

**A/N: Thank you again for reading! Like I said, all reviews are welcome and PM/review if you have suggestions. If you've made it this far, I automatically love you anyways.**


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